Handling Freight Accessorial Charges Through ERP Rules

Tame the Hidden Costs: Using ERP Rules to Handle Freight Accessorial Charges

In building materials distribution, freight is rarely simple. Whether it’s flatbeds hauling rebar, box trucks delivering drywall, or LTL carriers moving roofing materials, accessorial charges creep into every invoice: liftgate service, wait times, residential delivery fees, pallet returns. Left unchecked, these costs quietly erode your margins.

That’s why modern ERP systems must do more than just log freight—they must govern it. By configuring ERP rules that anticipate, allocate, and report on freight accessorial charges, you turn what used to be a profit leak into a controllable cost center.

What are freight accessorial charges—and why do they matter?

Accessorials are extra fees tacked on to freight bills that go beyond the base rate. Common examples in the building materials space include:

Jobsite delivery surcharges

Crane or forklift unloads

Wait time or detention charges

After-hours or weekend deliveries

Missed appointment fees

Hazmat or oversized load premiums

Pallet exchange programs

While each charge seems minor—$85 here, $120 there—across thousands of loads per year, they can total six or seven figures. Worse, many distributors don’t track or allocate them accurately, leading to under-recovered freight spend and distorted product margins.

How ERP rules solve for freight complexity

Modern ERPs like Epicor, NetSuite, Infor, and Acumatica allow you to build freight charge logic directly into your order workflows. This means your system can:

Predict accessorial charges based on delivery parameters

Apply those charges to the correct GL codes or product families

Flag exceptions when freight invoices exceed expected totals

Include accessorials in landed cost calculations for margin accuracy

Generate freight recovery charges for pass-through billing to customers

Let’s break it down by function:

Automated accessorial prediction

ERP rules can trigger expected accessorials based on order traits:

Delivering to a residential address? Add $75 surcharge.

Jobsite requires forklift unload? Add $100 fee.

Delivery window outside business hours? Flag for overtime freight billing.

Cost allocation and GL mapping

Not all accessorials belong to the same ledger:

Delivery appointment fees = logistics cost

Pallet return charges = warehouse ops

Hazmat fees = product-specific cost center

Your ERP can auto-route these charges to the right accounts, improving financial accuracy and audit readiness.

Freight invoice reconciliation

When carrier invoices come in, your ERP compares expected vs. actual charges. If a bill includes $250 in unapproved wait time, it flags for review. This “freight charge validation” reduces payment errors and overbilling.

Margin accuracy through landed cost updates

Your ERP should roll accessorials into the true landed cost of goods. If you sold steel decking with a $90 delivery surcharge and didn’t include it in your COGS, your margin math is off. Landed cost logic ensures “accurate product-level margin tracking.”

Pass-through billing and customer transparency

Some accessorials are billable—especially for special services. Your ERP can apply these fees to the customer’s invoice with descriptions, maintaining transparency and recovery.

Best practices for configuring ERP freight charge rules

Build a freight rules matrix

Start by mapping typical scenarios:

Delivery types (residential, commercial, jobsite)

Load traits (palletized, crane unload, oversized)

Customer preferences (scheduled vs. anytime)

From there, define what accessorials apply in each case and build them into your ERP’s freight logic.

Segment accessorials by service type

Don’t lump all charges into a single “freight” line. Use ERP item codes to break out “wait time,” “liftgate,” or “hazmat,” giving finance visibility and enabling customer-facing billing if needed.

Use carrier contracts to set expectations

Load your negotiated accessorial rates into the ERP. That way, when a carrier bills more than agreed, it’s easy to dispute. This is crucial for high-volume LTL lanes or jobsite-heavy delivery zones.

Tie charges to order confirmation

Let customers see accessorials on their order confirmation. If a surcharge applies, it’s disclosed early—reducing disputes and improving recovery.

Enable alerting for excessive charges

ERP rules can flag when accessorials exceed X% of base freight or when total charges exceed thresholds—helping operations investigate costly trends.

Real-world use case: controlling accessorial creep

A Midwestern building materials distributor was spending over $1.3M annually on freight, but couldn’t explain $200K of it. After a freight audit revealed extensive accessorial leakage—especially from LTL carriers delivering to residential projects—they implemented ERP freight rules tied to:

Delivery address type (jobsite vs. commercial)

Time-window flags

Carrier-specific surcharge tables

In 12 months, they:

Recovered $92K in customer-billable accessorials

Reduced overcharges by $38K through invoice matching

Gained visibility into which SKUs drove the most freight complexity

Freight isn’t just a cost—it’s a strategy

Handled properly, accessorial charges can become a controllable variable:

Want to reduce detention fees? Use ERP alerts to tighten dispatch scheduling.

Want to charge for off-hour deliveries? Build fees into pricing logic and explain them clearly.

Want to improve margins on heavy items? Apply weight-based freight allocation in ERP.

When these controls live inside your ERP, they’re not just reactive—they’re proactive.

Every distributor pays for freight. Smart distributors manage it. With ERP rules that govern accessorial charges, you gain the insight, control, and financial discipline needed to stop margin erosion in its tracks—and turn shipping from a black box into a measurable, recoverable part of your business.